Free things to do in London this weekend

Dreaming of a kitsch Christmas? New York’s famous Miracle on Ninth Street bar is popping up in London for its seventh year, ‘50s Christmas decorations, nostalgic accessories and creative new spins on beloved cocktail favourites in tow. This year’s menu is still a work in progress, but past years have seen the bar slinging the likes of a Snowball Old Fashioned or a Christmapoliton, which includes cranberry sauce and absinthe mist – a take on Christmas trimmings that’s not for the faint-hearted. If you’re failing to find the Christmas spirit, this is one great place to come find it.

Every winter the Southbank Centre turns the banks of the Thames into a frosty wonderland, full of little wooden Alpine-style cabins selling gifts, warming drinks, and snacks. This year, you can cosy up at Fire And Fromage with its heated riverside igloos where you can snaffle down cheese fondue. Further down, you’ll find huts serving up truffle burgers, duck wraps, and many more tasty morsels to keep you full and warm. Or grab a glass of mulled wine while you look through gifts, jewellery and decorations made by independent craft traders and take in those sparking riverside views.  When is Southbank Christmas Market open? It's open Friday, November 1, until Boxing Day, Thursday, December 26, but some pop-ups will stay open until the new year. The Southbank Centre's Winter Festival is on for a little longer, from November 1 until Sunday, January 5, 2025.  Do you need to buy a ticket? No, it's free to enter and have a wander. 

There's arguably nowhere in London more Christmassy than Covent Garden's Piazza in December. Every year, the shopping district seems to outdo its previous efforts, and this year’s display features almost double the number of individual lights as last year’s one, with 260,000 of them bathing the square in a warm glow, including 30,000 LEDs festooning an 18-metre tall Christmas tree on the West Piazza, where you’ll also find a Santa’s sleigh created from a reconditioned 1884 carriage hand painted by British artist James Gemmill. Meanwhile, the roof of the Market Building is adorned with 40 gigantic bells, 12 giant baubles and 8 spinning mirror balls as part of an installation first introduced last year. From November 29, shoppers can also check out the Covent Garden Chalet, an alpine-themed respite from the festive crowds offering mulled wine and seasonal treats. So very very festive!

Regent Street was actually the very first road in London to be adorned by Christmas lights back in 1954 – a tradition that happily still continues to this day. Each winter, the display comes to life as one of the most impressive in the capital and features 45 angels designed to look like they’re playing the trumpet. Very festive, very fun and very grand – the whole thing is made up of thousands of individual LED lights. Catch the lights for yourself from November 7, when the big switch-on takes place, with the lights shining daily from 3pm to 11pm until January. Find more Christmas lights in London Find more festive fun with our guide to Christmas in London

A London Christmas staple, Carnaby Street’s lights are typically pretty special, illuminating the street with eccentric, fun-loving tributes from everything from rock bands to robins to outer space. Carnaby’s 2024 installation is named ‘Into the Light’, which promises a ‘first of its kind’ approach to festive lights in London. It uses 60,000 LEDs and programmatic lighting to create a ‘dynamic and immersive’ display with ‘sculptural light forms’ that stretch to six metres in length. What’s more, it's been created with sustainability in mind, and is powered entirely by green energy, and designed to be used for at least the next five years, although the technology can be adapted so we won’t necessarily be seeing the same displays each time, which is pretty darn neat! Find more Christmas lights in London Find more festive fun with our guide to Christmas in London

Oxford Street is one of the most iconic areas for London’s Christmas lights, and for good reason, given that a hefty proportion of us Londoners will see them lighting our way as we do battle for Yuletide gifts. As is now tradition, the lights this year are made from eco-friendly materials, including LED lights and recycled plastic. Featuring over 300,000 individual lights – including 5000 twinkling stars – they shine from 4pm to midnight daily until early January. Be sure to look out for Oxford Street’s ‘Big Day Of Joy’ on December 7; staged in support of charity partner Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), it will feature street performances, seasonal menus and in-store activities around the area. 

Alvaro Barrington is letting you in. He’s opening his arms, opening the doors to his childhood home, opening the windows into his memories.  To walk into the London-based artist’s Duveen commission is to walk into the Grenadian shack he grew up in. The sound of rain hammering on the tin roof echoes around the space as you sit on plastic-covered benches; you’re safe here, protected, just like Barrington felt as a kid with his grandmother. You’re brought into her home, her embrace. In the central gallery, a vast silver dancer is draped in fabrics on an enormous steel pan drum. This is Carnival, this is the Afro-Carribean diaspora at its freest, letting loose, dancing, expressing its soul, communing. You’re brought into the frenzy, the dance, the community. But the fun soon stops. The final space houses a dilapidated shop, built to the dimensions of an American prison cell, surrounded by chain link fencing. Its shutters creak open and slam shut automatically. This is a violent shock, a testimony to the dangers facing Black lives in the West: the police, the prison system, the barely concealed injustice.  After all the music and refuge of the rest of the installation, here, it’s like Barrington’s saying: ‘You want this? You want the carnival, the music, the culture? Then acknowledge the pain, the fear, the mistreatment, the subjugation too.’ I don’t think the paintings here are great, but painting’s not Barrington’s strong suit. He excels when he’s collaborating, sampling, sharin

There’s a Bavarian flavour to Kingston Christmas Market, so much so you might be fooled into thinking you’ve stumbled through a portal into Germany. As you shop its many stalls, you can keep you energy up with bratwurst and mulled wine or take a pit stop at the Bavarian curling lanes. Live music and Christmas carol singers will also soundtrack the activities to really get you in the mood for Yuletide. Opening Dates: December 7 Best For: Raising your festive spirit

Unveiled for the first time last year, Marylebone Village’s super-sustainable Christmas lights are designed by Blachere Illumination, whose designs are made out of recycled plastic bottles and use recyclable LED systems that require 95% less energy than conventional lighting. Featuring curly banners adorned with golden leaves, the displays are operating on reduced hours, from dusk until 11pm daily, using 58.2% less energy than if the system relied solely on street lighting schedules.   

Last year, Bond Street shed its traditional peacock feathers in favour of some brand new decorations that paid homage to the monarchy. They took inspiration from the crown jewels, with over 90,000 LEDs hanging in tiara-like strings. The details for this year's lights are still to be confirmed, but watch this space for more information, as they're sure to be absolutely dazzling.  Have a look at all the best Christmas lights in London.